5:09 PM
Scientists discovered a new molecule that appears to help reduce the body's allergic reaction to dust mites. Dust mites are a leading cause of asthma and people like my wife suffer from their allergic reaction to it, so this discovery could be significant for a lot of people:
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/pressreleases/2012/february/new-molecule-discovered-in-fight-against-allergy.aspx
Researchers have taken an important step towards an effective vaccine against salmonella, the increasingly antibiotic-resistant food-borne bacteria that kills hundreds of thousands of people worldwide each year. In the US alone there are 1.4 mil cases of salmonella each year at an estimated cost of $3 bil and 580 deaths:
http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20120215-discovery-paves-way-for-salmonella-vaccine
Researchers have been working on invisibility cloaks for years, with a team of Manchester mathematicians showing that components of buildings can be cloaked with pressurized rubber such that earthquakes would not "see" the building. The earthquake's waves would just pass around the structure and the "cloaked" building would not be damaged. This "invisibility" could be significant to protect key buildings such as nuclear power plants and government offices from destruction from natural or terrorist attacks:
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/display/?id=7968
It looks like the Postal Service will soon end Saturday mail deliveries--Saturday deliveries are eliminated in Pres. Obama's proposed budget and while the Republican leadership disagrees with some of his plans for the Postal Service they agree that Saturday deliveries should end:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obamas-budget-plan-backs-ending-saturday-mail-other-postal-service-changes/2012/02/14/gIQAxr8UER_story.html?wpisrc=nl_pol_full
LightSquared's LTE network was officially rejected by the FCC, probably ending any chances LightSquared has. LightSquared's wholesale agreements with more than 30 companies and their network-hosting agreement with Sprint (which gave them until mid-March to get regulatory approval) are also apparently dead. The final step for LightSquared will probably be their inevitable lawsuit against the government for rejecting their network:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/lightsquareds-proposed-network-should-be-shelved-regulators-find/2012-02-15
HP's CEO said that Android could become closed source due to Google's purchase of Motorola Mobility, driving Android manufacturers to use webOS (my opinion is that she is completely wrong about this). HP's CEO says that Apple's iOS dominates the mobile market (Android devices sell 2x more than iOS devices, so I don't know how iOS is dominating the mobile market) but is not open-source so there is a void that webOS can fill. So, if HP is counting on Android not being closed source anymore and developers also abandoning iOS in order to make HP's webOS a success...good luck with that:
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/250057/hp_ceo_googlemotorola_deal_could_closesource_android.html
HTC is trying to revive their Android smartphone line by getting exclusives that will distinguish their devices from other Android devices. Sony has given PlayStation Suite certification to HTC, so only HTC's Android devices will be able to play PlayStation games. HTC also partnered with Beats Audio to get an exclusive boost in the music area:
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/44406/htc-playstation-certification-coming-2012
HTC is also reportedly creating a music streaming service that will be exclusively available on HTC smartphones and tablets:
http://gigaom.com/2012/02/14/htc-rumored-to-be-working-on-a-streaming-music-service/
Smartphone app can remove moving objects from a photo to create a "clean" version of the image--the user can also select what pieces they wish to remove from a photo. This would be VERY useful when taking photos of monuments and when you just want to focus on family and friends and wish to get rid of strangers in the background:
http://www.androidcentral.com/scalado-remove-will-take-care-unwanted-people-your-photographs
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/pressreleases/2012/february/new-molecule-discovered-in-fight-against-allergy.aspx
Researchers have taken an important step towards an effective vaccine against salmonella, the increasingly antibiotic-resistant food-borne bacteria that kills hundreds of thousands of people worldwide each year. In the US alone there are 1.4 mil cases of salmonella each year at an estimated cost of $3 bil and 580 deaths:
http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20120215-discovery-paves-way-for-salmonella-vaccine
Researchers have been working on invisibility cloaks for years, with a team of Manchester mathematicians showing that components of buildings can be cloaked with pressurized rubber such that earthquakes would not "see" the building. The earthquake's waves would just pass around the structure and the "cloaked" building would not be damaged. This "invisibility" could be significant to protect key buildings such as nuclear power plants and government offices from destruction from natural or terrorist attacks:
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/display/?id=7968
It looks like the Postal Service will soon end Saturday mail deliveries--Saturday deliveries are eliminated in Pres. Obama's proposed budget and while the Republican leadership disagrees with some of his plans for the Postal Service they agree that Saturday deliveries should end:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obamas-budget-plan-backs-ending-saturday-mail-other-postal-service-changes/2012/02/14/gIQAxr8UER_story.html?wpisrc=nl_pol_full
LightSquared's LTE network was officially rejected by the FCC, probably ending any chances LightSquared has. LightSquared's wholesale agreements with more than 30 companies and their network-hosting agreement with Sprint (which gave them until mid-March to get regulatory approval) are also apparently dead. The final step for LightSquared will probably be their inevitable lawsuit against the government for rejecting their network:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/lightsquareds-proposed-network-should-be-shelved-regulators-find/2012-02-15
HP's CEO said that Android could become closed source due to Google's purchase of Motorola Mobility, driving Android manufacturers to use webOS (my opinion is that she is completely wrong about this). HP's CEO says that Apple's iOS dominates the mobile market (Android devices sell 2x more than iOS devices, so I don't know how iOS is dominating the mobile market) but is not open-source so there is a void that webOS can fill. So, if HP is counting on Android not being closed source anymore and developers also abandoning iOS in order to make HP's webOS a success...good luck with that:
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/250057/hp_ceo_googlemotorola_deal_could_closesource_android.html
HTC is trying to revive their Android smartphone line by getting exclusives that will distinguish their devices from other Android devices. Sony has given PlayStation Suite certification to HTC, so only HTC's Android devices will be able to play PlayStation games. HTC also partnered with Beats Audio to get an exclusive boost in the music area:
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/44406/htc-playstation-certification-coming-2012
HTC is also reportedly creating a music streaming service that will be exclusively available on HTC smartphones and tablets:
http://gigaom.com/2012/02/14/htc-rumored-to-be-working-on-a-streaming-music-service/
Smartphone app can remove moving objects from a photo to create a "clean" version of the image--the user can also select what pieces they wish to remove from a photo. This would be VERY useful when taking photos of monuments and when you just want to focus on family and friends and wish to get rid of strangers in the background:
http://www.androidcentral.com/scalado-remove-will-take-care-unwanted-people-your-photographs